Auburn, ME – CMCC Softball suffered a non-conference doubleheader defeat on Friday afternoon to the Community College of Rhode Island, dropping game one 20-2 before a 14-3 loss in game two. The Mustangs stayed with the Knights early on but could not hold off their offense in the later innings.
Game One, 20-2 L
Lauryn Wood got the ball to start game one and Central Maine stayed tight with CCRI through the first four innings. The Knights took a 1-0 lead in the first when Sophia Chevian hit an RBI single into right field to score Kathryn Motta. CMCC responded immediately with a run of their own in the same way in the bottom half of the inning. Sam Withee smacked a line drive single into right that brought captain Olivia Gallan racing around to tie things up.
Hannah Smith gave the visitors the lead in the second and the score stayed at 2-1 going into the fourth until Jenna Altieri brought Smith across the plate again by beating out a ground ball to short.
CCRI got its offense going in the fifth, leading off with a solo home run by Zoe Battersby over the left field fence. Briana Grenier followed that up with a triple and beat the throw home on Smith's grounder that resulted in a fielder's choice. Crystaliah Covel made it four runs in the inning when she grounded back to Wood in the circle. The pitcher's throw to first was low and skipped away allowing both Jaiden Harding and Smith to score.
The Mustangs did get a bright spot in the bottom of the inning. Miah Gallan laced a triple into center field that reached the fence on two bounces. Withee drove her in with an RBI groundout to second to make it 7-2.
However, Wood was showing signs of fatigue. The sophomore from Winthrop, ME was making just her third start of the season since returning from injury. The Knights scored 13 runs in the sixth, drawing five walks and having two hit by pitch. With limited healthy pitching options available, Olivia Gallan was brought on in relief late in the inning. The outfielder allowed three hits and three more runs before getting the final out with a strikeout. Sophia Valentini then finished off a complete game for CCRI by retiring the side in order.
Game Two, 14-3 L
CMCC turned to Autumn Peterson to start game two. The three-sport athlete kept the Knights scoreless in the first, and the Mustangs threatened to take their first lead of the day in the bottom half of the inning. Miah Gallan, Withee, and Keira Greene reached safely to load the bases with two outs, but Janina Mazzulla struck out Makenzie Anderson to end the threat.
The cracks started to show in the second. Smith walked and got over to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Kayleen Kim to take the lead. Harding and Altieri worked walks as well and both scored on wild pitches with Peterson fighting through a lower body injury.
Head coach Megan Larochelle made the decision to shut her down after the second, meaning Gallan was called upon a second time to try and fill in as a pitcher. The captain valiantly gave it her all, pitching to younger sister Miah behind the plate, but CCRI tagged her for eight runs in the third inning to turn a close game into an 11-0 lead.
The Knights added another in the fourth and two more in the fifth with the game no longer in doubt. The bright spot for the hosts came in the bottom of the fourth when McKenna Ridlon lined an RBI single into center to score Keira Greene, before coming home herself on an infield single by Olivia. Alivia Field crossed the plate in between the two runs thanks to a wild pitch, giving the Mustangs three runs.
The pair of victories ran CCRI's winning streak to 12 straight games, while an injury-plagued CMCC squad showed it can stay with opponents when they're at full strength. Central Maine now hits the road for doubleheaders against NHTI and SMCC.
